Tech schools answer call for skilled manufacturing workforce

Mar. 20, 2014

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Gannett Wisconsin Media

MARSHFIELD — The call for skilled manufacturing employees is growing, and Mid-State Technical College is answering by developing programs to train workers, say school officials.

“A lot of manufacturers are hiring, and a lot of the positions they’re looking for are welders and machine operators,” said Scott Larson, executive director of the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Manufacturing gained an estimated 6,900 jobs during the year and 28,300 manufacturing jobs since December 2010, an increase of 6.5 percent to a 2013 benchmark total of 464,100, according to a recent news release from the state Department of Workforce Development, or DWD.

Larson said the local unemployment rate dropped from 6.5 percent at the end of 2012 to 5.8 percent at the end of 2013.

Mid-State Technical College works closely with manufacturing businesses to offer training and classes for available jobs, said Connie Willfahrt, vice president of academic affairs for the college, which has locations in Marshfield, Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point and Adams.

The technical college last year worked with stainless steel fabricating employers to renovate a welding lab at the Marshfield campus to accommodate industry changes, according to the 2013 Marshfield Economic Development Annual Report released last month. Students can obtain a certificate in stainless steel welding and transfer their courses to the welding technical diploma program offered at the Wisconsin Rapids campus.

Computer, accounting and marketing jobs also are hot right now, said Karl Easttorp, director of communications for the college.

“More than 50 percent of today’s jobs require more than high school, but less than a four-year degree,” Willfahrt said.

Of the 2013 graduates, 88 percent reported getting employment within six months of graduation — 83 percent in the field of their degree. It’s the highest number the college has seen in the last four years, she said.

“What’s really great is, as compared to last school year, so far, this school year, to date, we have over 200 more job postings in our mid-state region,” Willfahrt said.

The updated Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry website features a job component highlighting skilled positions available at larger companies in Marshfield.